Pass measure protecting wage-theft victims

There is a bill being proposed in our General Assembly that would ensure victims of wage theft could seek recompense and justice. It is Senate Bill 5, the Wage Protection Act. Under current law, employees who experience wage theft must submit a written demand to their employer within 60 days after leaving their job. If they fail to do so, they cannot get statutory penalties for the wage theft. This legislation removes the written-demand requirement, except when an employee files an action in civil court against his employer, in which case he or she has to make a written demand 14 days before filing a complaint, in order to allow the employer to respond to the demand. Regardless of who the victim of wage theft is, passing this bill will be a benefit to every worker’s security that honest work is honestly paid. Please ask your state legislators to make the right choice by passing this bill.